Beit El

Beit El (Hebrew: בֵּית אֵל) is an Israeli settlement and a local council in the Benjamin region of the central West Bank, within the borders of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. The religiously observant town is located in the hills north of Jerusalem east of the Palestinian city of al-Bireh. In 2009, it had a population of 5,308. The head of the local council is Moshe Rosenbaum. Jewish settlements are widely regarded by international community as illegal under international law according to Fourth Geneva Convention (article 49), which prohibits an occupying power transferring citizens from its own territory to occupied territory, but the Israeli government disputes this on the basis that no one was moved by the government, but rather relocated of their own free will.